Navy Pilot Lands Safely In-House at Insurance Company

Long before he was corporate counsel for Axis Capital Holdings Ltd., Conrad D. Brooks was a Navy pilot flying reconnaissance missions around the world.

He continues to fly as a reservist. He served during undergraduate school at the University of Illinois, his home state, where he earned a degree in geology. After graduation, he flew on active duty for 11 years. Sometimes he was away from home 300 days a year. On a trip to Puerto Rico for the Navy, he was introduced to his future wife, who was vacationing there with the wife of another pilot. After he was married, he began to look for work closer to home.While on shore duty in Norfolk, Va., he earned an MBA at Old Dominion University. However, he was interested in law as well as business, so he went to Georgia State University School of Law. After graduation, he worked for what is now McKenna Long & Aldridge, specializing in corporate law, securities and mergers and acquisitions. After 10 years — a year after he became a partner — a friend who had moved in-house suggested he consider a job with Axis, which has an operations center in Alpharetta that also houses most of its law department. “I really enjoyed it at McKenna. I had some great mentoring, great training and great role models,” Brooks said. “But I thought if I was going to make the switch, it needed to be sooner rather than later.”He’s still in the air plenty — only now he’s flying to Bermuda, where his company is headquartered. He spends four or five days a month there. He shared some of his story in a conversation this month:Corporate story: We are a Bermuda-based specialty insurer and re-insurer. For example, we wouldn’t insure a house or a car, but we might insure an airline against a terrorist attack on one of their planes. Or we might insure an oil company against a hostile government trying to repatriate their assets. We would insure a big sports arena against a hurricane or some other disaster. We would be more likely to do a smaller number of contracts for bigger volume. We went over a billion dollars in profit for 2007, and we have only 700 employees. We’re proud that we went over the billion-dollar mark in just our sixth year, but we’re humble, too, because in this industry, we’re only one Katrina away from a less impressive performance — or from a bad year, to put in plain English.Role as corporate counsel: I assist the GC [Richard T. Gieryn] by handling all of our corporate law matters for the company — security, corporate finance, mergers and acquisitions, intellectual property, corporate governance, assisting with board matters — all corporate related work.On becoming a lawyer: My brother is a lawyer, so I had some exposure. I thought he and I were quite alike. It appealed to him. I thought it might appeal to me, even though you never know exactly when you’re not in the profession. On moving in-house: This day and age, I don’t think there are any cushy in-house jobs. They are fairly demanding positions. I was just ready to expand on the next phase of my career.Greatest challenge: Parenting is my biggest challenge, no doubt. It’s an adjustment to life with a baby again. But all the negatives pale compared to the pride and joy.Words of wisdom: I had a professor at Georgia State Law School, Andrea Curcio, who was really wonderful. She was quoting Ben Franklin when she said, it takes many good deeds to build a good reputation and only one bad one to lose it. I thought that was profound. She paraphrased it and said you only have one reputation.Best advice: My mother, being from Illinois, used to quote Abraham Lincoln, who said, most folks are as happy as they make up their minds to be. I think that is a powerful quote. If you have a cheery attitude, upbeat, your attitude has a big impact on how you perform and what your day is going to be like. I think an optimistic approach serves you well.Keeping in shape: I’m in the Jeff Galloway Atlanta running group. We run together in groups on Saturday morning. There are time groups at different skill levels. There are several lawyers among the group of 10 or 12 that I run with. I’ve done six marathons, but I’m not particularly speedy.Pro bono: I’m a guardian ad litem. It’s a pro bono initiative through the Atlanta Bar in which lawyers represent the best interest of kids when parents are in contentious proceedings. The guardians are appointed by the court specifically to represent the children and make recommendations on custody and visitation and holidays. It takes time and patience. You have to take the child for an ice cream or for a walk and listen to them. And even if they tell you what they want, that may not be what’s best for them. So you have to consider everything. I have a soft spot for kids.